Deputy Education Minister Tzvi Hendel and MK Uri Ariel, both of the National Union party, visited the hub of illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem today. The two are founding members of the Tekumah party, a faction in the National Union, which for the first time is fielding a list of candidates in the upcoming Jerusalem municipal elections. Two members of the list - Atty. Shmuel Kaspar and Moti Prince - accompanied Hendel and Ariel. One of the main campaign issues for the Tekumah list is "war against the wild and illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem, which is attempting to take over national lands in the capital and give the Palestinian Authority a political, military, and demographic hold in Jerusalem."
In response to Arutz-7's Effie Meir, who asked why illegal construction in Jerusalem should concern the other residents of the country, Kaspar explained as follows: "A family that builds illegally, without registering it or paying property taxes, will not pay income tax, and then when a Hamas cell comes to him and asks for help in bringing a bomb into Hebrew University or some other place, the logical next step is for him to agree." Kaspar also mentioned demographic aspects, the "atmosphere of wantonness," and the unsafe construction that could lead to a calamity, in terms of casualties, financial costs, and bad international publicity.
MK Tzvi Hendel finds a connection between the illegal construction in Jerusalem and the recent diplomatic moves:
"This is defeatism on the part of Israel. A state that doesn't know how to rule, allows the 'bad guys' to win. While the rest of the world is destroying terrorist states, we are allowing one to be built. What other country allows such wanton violation of the law in the heart of its capital? In every other place they build in an organized fashion, but here, we allow it to go on, with the same non-sensical excuses we've been hearing for decades: the timing is not right, the nations of the world won't like it, etc."
The National Union MKs say they don't have exact statistics on the extent of illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem, but they say that roughly 25% of Arab buildings in the city are not licensed.